


in which orem rivendorn tries not to ruin his sister's wedding

by styyxx



Category: Critical Hit (Podcast)
Genre: M/M, Season 4 Spoilers, not canon compliant post season 4
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-08
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2018-08-29 21:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8506906
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/styyxx/pseuds/styyxx
Summary: Orem hasn't seen Ket and Randus in years; Trelle wants them at her wedding.It'll be just like the old times.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is completely not canon compliant after the lords of the feywild finale – contains spoilers up until there!

“And, if I may, of course, make a _humble_ suggestion, I would strongly advocate for the lilies to be featured prominently all over the aisle. The pristine white will go beautifully with your skin, young mistress, and the luscious green stems will match Lady Trelle’s hair – all in all, the perfect vegetal translation of your unlikely relationship!”

If looks could talk, Orem was certain Trelle’s eyes would be screaming at the eladrin wedding organizer, who had been carefully selected by the Rivendorns to oversee and advise all preparations for the upcoming ceremony. He was also certain that if eladrin had pupils, Kammis’ eyes would currently be rolling.

The Rivendorns had, reluctantly, agreed to let the wedding happen. They were vocal about their disapproval of Kammis’ relationship with Trelle, but they knew they couldn’t do much to stop it if they wanted to stay cordial with their daughter, so they had given the two girls their blessing under a few _conditions_ – The wedding was to be held in the Feywild, in the Cerulean Grove, and the ceremony had to be a traditional eladrin ceremony. The wedding planner was to be present at all times, at the Rivendorns’ request, making sure the ceremony was appropriate and up to the standards of one the most important families of eladrin society. That was, really, the only reason the man was there at that moment, as Kammis and Trelle barely tolerated him.

Trelle sighed, turning to Orem and giving him a pleading stare as her fiancée searched for the words to politely accept the _humble suggestion_. He subtly nodded and let Kammis and the planner walk ahead, staying behind to accompany his sister-in-law-to-be.

Things had been awkward when Trelle had returned to the Feywild after years of adventures in the Southern Continent. Orem hadn’t spoken to any of his past travelling companions ever since what had happened after he’d killed Spud; in fact, he had avoided even thinking about them at all. He had been convinced he could never forgive Trelle for what she had done to him, even though deep down he knew it had been for his benefit and the benefit of his people. When she returned though, after the connection between the Feywild and the Prime Material Plane was back to normal, he couldn’t help but be relieved to see that she was alive and well, especially after he’d seen the wide smile and tears of happiness on his sister’s face as she ran to hug her girlfriend.

At first, despite Trelle’s eagerness to reconnect with him, he’d had trouble talking to her, still bitter. However, after some time, he’d warmed up to her again, and after the year she had lived with them, their relationship was stronger than it’d ever been – even though Orem wasn’t completely sure he could ever fully forgive her.

The two let themselves fall behind a little before the elf looked at Orem again, this time smiling at him. He raised an eyebrow and she cleared her throat before hesitantly starting to talk.

“So…” She started, her tone a little hesitant.

“Yes?”

She looked at the ground for a few seconds before looking at Orem’s face again.

“I want Randus and Ket to be at the wedding,” She finally said, the smile replaced by a more reluctant expression, not sure how Orem would react. The eladrin looked away and hummed before nodding.

“Okay,” He replied, his voice a little strained.

“I know it’s been - it’s been years since we’ve had any contact with them. But they’re important to me. I really want them to be there,” She added.

“That’s okay,” Orem said, quieter this time.

Trelle nodded again, biting her lip for second, eyes still downcast. “I… I wanted to ask you to invite them.”

He frowned, this time not saying anything.

“I was hoping you could travel to the Material Plane and ask them – maybe through a sending? I mean, let’s hope they’re in the Material Plane, you never know with them,” She said, with a nervous chuckle, and Orem momentarily flinched at the thought of them not replying for reasons other than not being in the Material Plane.

“You could ask them and then we can work from there… It’s still two months until the wedding so they have time to prepare – they can bring guests! Do you think they have wives and babies? Oh my god, imagine a tiny baby Randus!” She said, trying to lighten the atmosphere and smiling at Orem again, who was too nervous to imagine how Randus’ hypothetical children would look like.

He didn’t think the mere thought of speaking to Randus and Ket again would make him so nervous.

“Ket did say he couldn’t have children one time, I think? But maybe he’s got a pretty wife now?” Trelle continued, “It could be like the old times.”

Orem knew it wouldn’t be like the old times. It couldn’t.

He sighed.

“I’ll do it,” He said, trying to sound certain and not as nervous as he was feeling, and Trelle smiled hopefully, reaching for his hands and squeezing them.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” He gave her a soft smile and she squealed, throwing her arms around him and jumping up and down, making him chuckle as well and causing Kammis and the wedding planner to turn at them, confused.

“Oh, thank you so much, Orem!” She said, sounding genuinely happy, all tension fading from her. “I really hope they can come.”

 _Me too_ , Orem thought.

 

* * *

 

Being out of the Feywild for the first time in years was strange.  Not bad, just different – Orem was clearly out of his element, a nostalgic feeling overwhelming him as he walked around the unfamiliar, yet strangely welcoming forest. The colors of the trees and foliage, muted in comparison to those of the Feywild, were oddly comfortable and calming, and the eladrin took a deep breath before slowly sitting down on the earthy ground, taking a piece of parchment from his satchel and reading the words he already knew by heart from endless, almost obsessive practice. He had carefully selected each of the twenty five words he wanted to use on his sendings to Randus and Ket - it was going to be their first contact in years, and it _needed_ to be perfect.

After he’d selected the exact words he wanted to say, he had tried and failed to avoid thinking about what he’d do if there was no response from either of them, reminding himself that it – if that did happen – it wouldn’t mean they were _dead_. Randus and Ket were unpredictable. They could be in a different plane. They could be asleep, or unable to reply for a variety of reasons.

There was no way they could be dead.

Orem took another deep breath, put his notes away (already completely memorized from the amount of times he had nervously read them, made sure they were perfect over and over again) and started preparing the ritual. When he was ready, he thought of Randus and enounced the words, trying to sound as perfectly poised and calm as he wished he was.

_Randus, it’s Orem Rivendorn. Trelle and Kammis invite you to their wedding, in two months, Spring Woods. You can bring guests. Hope you can make it._

Exactly 25 words. Orem closed his eyes and took another breath that came out sounding shaky as he waited for the reply that seemed to take an endless time to arrive.

And then it came.

_Orem! It’s great to hear from you! My congratulations to Trelle and Kammis, will do everything I can to be there._

Randus’ voice sounded exactly the same as he remembered it as it echoed in his head, sounding surprised and happy and making Orem’s shoulders sag in relief and the corners of his mouth turn upwards in a smile. He’d missed that voice, and he missed Randus, he realized it, maybe admitting it to himself for the first time.

He had always known he missed adventuring, he missed the rush of adrenaline of a battle, the excitement that came with exploring the unknown and the feelings of contentment that came with knowing he was helping people, saving an entire plane of existence, making the world a better place as much as he could, but he had never let allowed himself to admit that he also missed the people he had adventured with.

He missed them a lot. He even missed _Ket_ , he thought with an amused chuckle as he prepared for the next ritual, feeling somewhat calmer and more reassured this time. He closed his eyes again and focused on Ket this time, changing only a few words from the previous sending, for old times’ sake, and calmly enouncing the words once more.

 _Hello Ket,_ he thought, unable to avoid the snarky smile that automatically came with the word choice, _it’s Orem. Trelle and Kammis invite you to their wedding, in two months, Spring Woods. You can bring guests. Hope you can make it._

He took yet another deep breath and waited for a response once again, the wait seeming endless and invading him with anxious thoughts, thoughts he had avoided thinking about for many years.

And then, the reply came, the relief hitting Orem even harder this time as he heard the familiar voice in his head.

_I’ll see if I can make it._


	2. Chapter 2

Over the next two months, especially during the two weeks before the big day, the guests had started to arrive – most of them from all over the Feywild, some from the Prime Material Plane; The Rivendorns had rented an entire complex close to the venue of the ceremony to house all of Trelle’s relatives, plus some other elves from her tribe she had insisted on inviting, but she wasn’t sure if that was out of kindness and respect for the elves or simply because they didn’t want them mingling with the other guests. Stagzi was also coming – he wasn’t there yet, but he had promised he’d be there, and Trelle was convinced he would honor his promise. He was very resourceful; also, she had promised him she would kick his ass if he _dared_ to miss the wedding.

Randus and Ket weren’t there either, but nobody said anything about that. Orem had made sure he spent as much time with Kammis and Trelle as he could, taking special care to be present whenever they were greeting guests, even though most times he just ended up standing by Kammis as the girls bowed and politely accepted gifts from important members of eladrin society that Kammis didn’t like and Trelle didn’t even _know_. Most of the guests had been invited by the Rivendorns as courtesy. It was already _unusual_ that their daughter was marrying an elf, but holding a wedding ceremony without inviting certain eladrin personalities would be a scandal.

And as the big day got closer, Orem grew anxious for a variety reasons, most of them related to Randus and Ket’s presence, or lack thereof. Trelle had noticed this, showing him soft, reassuring smiles whenever their eyes met, and it was slightly embarrassing that he was the one being reassured when it was _her_ wedding day that was about to arrive.

( _They’ll come_ , she had said to him one night, a steady hand on his arm and another gentle smile on her face. He had just nodded, silently acknowledging her reassurance, and they hadn’t spoken of it ever since. She was almost as convinced of their presence as she was of Stagzi’s.)

It was frustrating that he had mentally prepared for them to come for so long and it wasn’t even going to happen after all.

 

* * *

 

It was two days before the wedding and the girls had made a big effort to escape breakfast with the guests for once, absconding to a more private room in the Rivendorns’ spring manor and taking Orem along with them. They were tired of all the bureaucracy that came with the wedding preparations, tired of having to spend most of their time talking to people they didn’t care about and that probably didn’t care about them just to make the ceremony more acceptable on the eyes of a society they didn’t care about.

“I just want to get married already,” Trelle whined, her head on Kammis’ shoulder.

“I just want to _elope_ ,” Kammis sighed, stirring her tea. The elf immediately gasped, lifting her head to look at her fiancée.

“Can we?!” She said, eyes suddenly wide in her typical stare.

Kammis shook her head, smiling sadly and pecking Trelle’s lips quickly. “I wish,” she said, quietly, and Orem averted his eyes, letting them have their moment. “But you know we can’t…”

“I know,” Trelle whined again, placing her head back on Kammis’ shoulder, this time wrapping her arms around her, basically clinging to the eladrin.

Orem waited a few seconds before looking back at the girls, smiling at their position. “You’ve survived most of it already. Two days is nothing compared to what you’ve been through,” he said before lifting his own cup of tea to his lips and taking a sip. Trelle whined again in response.

“You should prepare yourself for what’s to come too, Orem,” Kammis said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Now that I’m going to be officially _taken_ , they’re going to turn to you as the only viable option to keep the Rivendorn bloodline going.”

It was Orem’s turn to groan this time.

“I am a busy man, Kammis, I – I have plenty of options, I just can’t afford to waste precious time on courting! Eladrin society isn’t getting rebuilt on courting –“

“Eladrin society will be fine if you take a few days off to talk to girls,” Kammis retorted, eyebrow still raised. “Besides, I’m not saying you have to get a date right away. I’m just saying, I wouldn’t be surprised if mother and father started putting some pressure on you soon.”

Orem took another sip of his tea, frowning for a second before relaxing again.

“This is all your fault,” He said, smiling at the girls.

“What can I say?” Kammis replied, smiling at him back before sipping on her tea as well. “Losers can’t be choosers! You had plenty of time to settle –“

Kammis was interrupted by the sound of the door as it was unceremoniously pushed open by a tall, well composed eladrin. Trelle quickly moved away from the comfortable spot she’d settled in at Kammis’ side, a light blush on her face, but the newcomer didn’t seem to pay attention to their position, looking straight at them and bowing. The other three quickly stood up, setting their teacups aside before bowing back.

“Lady Kammis, Lady Trelle, Master Rivendorn; A guest for the wedding,” He said, looking at each of them in turn and then stepping aside and motioning towards the door before announcing, “Lord Randus Duthane.”

There was a second of shocked silence as another man slowly stepped into the room.

His hair was slightly longer than Orem remembered it, he was well shaven, and he wasn’t wearing his old coat and armor – instead, a fancier-looking travel coat with fewer pockets than Orem had expected, which probably meant he wasn’t the one who had picked it. He also looked younger than Orem thought he would, but looking back on it, he wasn’t sure why he even expected him to age normally. His right arm, the metal one, was more polished than Orem had ever seen before, and looked like its technology had also been improved upon since he’d last seen it. However, some things were exactly how Orem remembered them – the large backpack on his back, the old goggles on his forehead and the slightly confused expression on his face as Trelle let out a delighted shriek and threw her arms around him in a tight hug.

“Randus!” She yelled, probably a lot louder than she should have.

Randus blinked a couple of times before his lips turned upwards into a smile and he let out a quiet chuckle. “Indeed,” he mumbled, hesitating for a second before putting her arms around her as well, causing her to squeal happily again before letting him go and immediately going for his hands, squeezing them tightly in hers as she jumped up and down excitedly.

The eladrin servant turned around and left, closing the door behind them, but he was largely ignored, as all eyes were focused on Randus.

“Oh my god! You look so handsome!” Trelle exclaimed, starting to pull him in the direction of Orem, who was still shocked and unsure of how to react. “We were starting to think you weren’t going to come!”

“Pardon, I – I had some trouble finding my way here, it’s been a while since I, oh,” he stopped when he finally noticed the other people in the room, his smile widening as his eyes focused on Orem. “Orem! It’s been quite a while!”

“Randus,” Orem mumbled back, nodding absent-mindedly and considering bowing for a second before rejecting the idea and politely extending a hand towards him instead, swallowing nervously.

Randus looked at the hand confusedly before chuckling and letting go of Trelle’s hands to pull Orem into a quick, unexpected hug.  The eladrin let out a small, surprised noise and hesitated – but the expectant look Trelle was giving him convinced him to quickly hug Randus back.

Randus pulled back to turn around and wave at Kammis, mumbling a greeting at the eladrin, who was watching them with an amused expression.

“Oh my god!” Trelle repeated, going behind him to help him put the heavy backpack down, “I can’t believe you’re here!”

“I am truly sorry for the delay,” Randus said, scratching the back of his neck, still smiling. “Like I was saying, the Feywild is very baffling to me and it took me a while to find an adequate animal guide.”

“Oh, of course! Orem should have helped you out with that, I told him to take care of your invitations!” She said, glaring at Orem who just shrugged, still not very sure how to act.

“That’s quite alright,” Randus replied, shaking his head. “I’m just absolutely delighted to be here. It’s great to see you all again.”

Trelle nodded, looking like she was resisting the urge to hug Randus one more time.

“Oh, and, of course, congratulations!” He quickly said, turning to the two girls and then reaching for his bag, searching through his belongings before procuring a small, wooden box. “I wasn’t certain of what to get you as a, uh, wedding gift, so I ended up creating this – I based it on cog technology, it’s mechanical but enchanted to, well – open it!” He said, handing it to Trelle.

She looked at the simple box for a few seconds, motioning for Kammis to walk over before carefully opening it. Inside was a strange clockwork mechanism, which emitted a strange ticking sound for a couple of seconds before the small cogs started spinning, making a thick, silver cylinder in the middle of it starting to turn and producing a beautiful, pristine melody. The two girls looked at it in awe, listening to the slightly metallic sounds the machine was creating in absolute silence, Randus looking at them expectantly.

“Oh my god, Randus…” Trelle whispered, lifting her gaze to look at him, “It’s so beautiful…”

Randus sighed in relief and smiled, nodding. “I thought so myself. Originally I had made it so you had to turn a ratchet lever on the side of it to put the spring motor under tension but I was able to enchant it to – oh,” He mumbled proudly until he was interrupted by Orem’s hand on his shoulder, who shook his head at him with an amused smile and gestured at the girls, still entranced by the music.

“Oh,” Randus nodded, understanding what Orem meant and smiling again. “I’m glad you liked it.”

“We love it,” Kammis said, smiling at him. “Thank you, Randus.”

“No problem.”

Orem took his hand off of Randus’ shoulder and motioned towards one of the seats in the room, sitting down as well. Randus looked around and looked thoughtful for a second, hesitating before asking quietly.

“Is Ket?...”

Orem hesitated as well before shaking his head, feeling a surprising pang of disappointment in his chest. Randus’ arrival was already something he wasn’t counting on. Ket’s would be a miracle.

It wasn’t surprising though. He probably had never considered any of them friends.

Randus sighed and nodded, clearly disappointed as well, but quietly accepting the news with a sad smile.

“Well. It’s good to see you, Orem.”

Orem smiled back softly. “It’s… Good to see you too. It’s been too long.”

They turned their attention back to the little music box for a few more seconds before the moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening once again, the same eladrin walking back into the room with the same well composed expression on his face. Trelle jumped in surprise and quickly closed the box and Randus and Orem quickly stood up as everyone looked at the announcer, who cleared his throat.

“Lady Kammis, Lady Trelle, Master Rivendorn; another _late_ guest,” he said, a hint of annoyance in his voice despite the blank expression. “Mister Ket H’zard.”

This time, Trelle couldn’t contain her surprised gasp as the familiar figure walked into the room – the tall, dark haired man they all immediately recognized as Ket. He had changed even less than Randus had, and although he looked like he had aged more than Randus, he still didn’t look as old as he should be by then. His hair was slightly longer, but everything else was exactly the same as Orem remembered. The dark eyes, the well-kept goatee he always seemed to sport, the seemingly indifferent expression on his face; he even seemed to be wearing his old leather jacket – not the one he had gotten from the church of Asmodeus, but the other one, the one he’d been wearing the first time Orem had seen him, with the sewed-on patches with a variety of gambling symbols. On his back, the same old backpack, out of which it was easy to imagine a book imp popping out, and on his hand, a wooden staff that Orem could have sworn he had seen before.

The entire room was quiet this time as the announcer bowed and quickly left, closing the door after him.

“Hi?” Ket finally said, after what seemed like endless silence.

“Oh my god,” Trelle whispered, before running up to him and throwing her arms around his shoulders, just like she had done with Randus. “Ket!”

Ket looked slightly thrown off, like he hadn’t expected that greeting at all.

“Yeah,” He simply said.

 _Eloquent,_ Orem couldn’t help but think to himself, still looking at Ket in shock.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” Trelle mumbled, her voice charged with emotion.

Ket slowly wrapped his arms around her and hugged her back, his lips forming a small smile.

“I said I’d come, didn’t I?” He said, amused, pulling back after only a couple of seconds to look at Kammis, who was staring at him with a strange, undecipherable expression.

“Hey Kammis.”

“Hello,” She greeted back, with what seemed like a slightly unsure smile.

He turned around to face Orem and Randus and his grin widened.

“Randus,” Ket said, nodding at the human, who just smiled and walked up to him, giving him a quick hug as well. Ket quickly hugged him back, and his eyes then stopped on Orem.

He paused for a second.

“Hey Orem,” He said, as if knowing the words that would follow.

Orem couldn’t help but chuckle. “Hello, _Ket_.”

 

* * *

 

It was strangely easy.

Orem had expected things to be awkward. He’d spent hours thinking about what sort of things to say in the unlikely event of meeting Randus and Ket again, nervously wondering how the meeting would go, unsure if he would be able to deal with unpleasant memories from their adventures slapping him in the face.

But it wasn’t hard at all. It was easier than Orem could have ever hoped for. Despite the years they’d spent apart, he immediately felt comfortable around the two men, falling back into the usual bickering with Ket and questioning Randus about what he’d spent working on for the past years.

It was like the feelings of betrayal he had garnered inside him for years weren’t even there anymore, like they had faded away while Orem wasn’t looking, while he was trying to avoid them. Talking to them was easy. He felt oddly _at home._

“By the way, Randus,” Trelle said, snapping Orem out of his thoughts and bringing him back to the conversation, which had to have been going on for at least two hours now, “did I hear it wrong, or did that guy announce you as _Lord_ Randus Duthane?”

“No, no, you heard it correctly!”

“ _Lord_?” Ket repeated. “Wait, _our_ Randus? A _Lord_?”

Randus chuckled and nodded, shrugging.

“Yes! The Duthanes are nobility now.”

“How in the world did that happen?”

“Well, after I returned to the Material Plane, I aided the King of Diamondthrone with, well, a variety of errands –“

“You’re a noble because of _errands_?”

“– well, yes! Some of them were rather time consuming and required a lot of effort – the civil war, a bit of that orc situation – so after the kernel of the situation was resolved, there was an empty place in court, and empty lands that needed a ruler. So, he made me a warden, and the Duthanes nobles.” Randus explained, also sounding slightly baffled by it all.

“Wow,” Ket chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Am I really the only one who isn’t rich or some sort of nobility now?”

“That’s what happens when you gamble your fortunes away, Ket!” Orem said with a smirk and a shrugging motion.

“Hey – I do _not_ have a gambling problem, and I almost never lose,” Ket countered, pointing a finger at the eladrin.

“How come you haven’t made a fortune then?”

“Well, I’m moderate; Plus, I do it for fun, mostly.”

“Aw, don’t feel bad, Ket,” Trelle said, sending him a playful wink. “I’m not rich, or a noble, either. Not for another day or two, anyway!”

Ket rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. “I admire your diligence. Not everybody can marry a Rivendorn; they’re a little bit too hard to endure for extended amounts of time.”

“Hey!” Orem complained, with a grin on his face. “Just marry Randus then, if you’re that desperate. He’s a noble now.”

“What?” Randus mumbled, surprised at the turn the conversation had taken.

“And speaking of Randus,” Orem said, eyes jumping from the human to Trelle. “I hope you know part of the reason Trelle invited you was because she was hoping you would have cute babies to show her.”

“That was _not_ part of the reason,” Trelle declared, “That would just have been a bonus!”

“Babies?” Randus mumbled again, raising an eyebrow.

“Babies,” Orem confirmed, nodding once. “ _Tiny baby Randus_ were her exact words, if I remember correctly.”

“Not you too!” Randus whined, bringing his metal hand to his forehead. “My mom won’t stop bothering me about that. That’s why she made me wear this – this jacket! She said she wouldn’t mind ruling over everything while I’m out as long as I came back with a girl,” He explained, quietly adding a grumble that sounded like a complaint about _not enough pockets_.

Trelle looked as if she was trying to resist the urge to pinch his cheeks.

“But you’re so handsome,” She said, talking to him as if he were a baby.

Orem and Ket shared an amused look, and Trelle quickly turned to glare at them. “You’ve got absolutely no reason to be laughing about this, Orem! You know you’re going to be in the same position soon, Kammis said so herself earlier today.”

Ket raised an eyebrow at Orem, looking even more amused now.

“Wait a minute – Master Magician Orem Rivendorn, who was always bragging about how he was popular with the ladies of the Cerulean Academy… Still single, after all these years?”

Orem frowned and crossed his arms, raising his chin almost comically.

“Like I told Kammis earlier, I’m a busy man, and eladrin society isn’t built on – wait, _you_ ’re talking? Does that mean you’re married or something?” He said, still frowning. Trelle looked at Ket with big, hopeful eyes.

“Nah,” Ket said with a laugh, and Trelle visibly deflated. “I’m not good with that sort of thing. But at least I don’t have my family bothering me about it.” He shrugged, smirking at the other three. “Maybe being a noble or an important member of eladrin society isn’t that good after all.”

Trelle shook her head, disappointed.

“After all this time, all three of you still alone,” She said, sighing and then smiling again, pausing to stare fondly at each of them, in turn. “At least you have each other.”

Ket rolled his eyes, and Randus chuckled, but Orem felt something tighten in his chest at her words, staying silent and simply smiling back at her.

 

* * *

 

(Sometimes, it was almost _too much_ like old times.

At one point, when they were laughing about something silly that had happened back during their adventuring time together – something that, at the time, had seemed scary and dangerous, but that they could now look back on with amusement – Trelle, as if momentarily lost in memories, had turned to her side and excitedly called for _Torq_ , ready to share an anecdote with him, but had immediately realized her mistake, quickly covering her mouth and pushing back the tears that were suddenly trying to leave her eyes. After that, they had all taken caution not to mention the name again. It had been a long time since _it_ had happened, but the four of them had never been together without _him_ , so sometimes, it was almost easy to forget.)

 

* * *

 

They kept at it for what seemed to be hours, and the conversation never died down – they had years of conversation to catch up on, and Kammis, who had left the room shortly after Ket’s arrival, was doing what she could to buy them some time to relax, focusing on the wedding preparations and on entertaining the other guests by herself and saying _Lady Trelle_ was busy with other tasks.

They’d been interrupted only two times, once by a couple of gnomes who had asked whether rooms should be prepared for the newly arrived guests, and if so, where were they to stay. It was decided that they would stay at the manor itself, along with Orem, Trelle and Kammis, and the gnomes bowed politely and left to make the preparations.

The second time they were interrupted was slightly more dramatic.

They were in the middle of a light-hearted conversation about Randus’ young cousins when the door opened to reveal an eladrin – the tall, blonde man with exquisite but sober robes and a stern face that Randus and Ket immediately recognized as Brall Rivendorn.

The four people in the room immediately tensed up and stood up, bowing politely at him.

“Father,” Orem greeted, quietly, noticing his father’s eyes were directed at their guests.

“Ah, Orem,” Brall said, acknowledging him. “I was told there were some unexpected, last-minute arrivals.”

“Yes,” He confirmed, motioning towards Randus and Ket, even though it was obvious that his father had seen them already. “You already know – “

“Master Randus,” Brall continued, bowing briefly to Randus, who greeted him back in a similar manner. “Of course, welcome in our home. And…”

He turned to Ket and his face seemed to turn, somehow, even sterner, a slight frown on his brow, even though, once again, it was clear he had noticed Ket’s presence in the room already.

“Mister H’zard,” He finished, coldly, his bow this time not more than a slow nod, and the change in title from Randus’ greeting obvious to the entire room.

Ket made sure to bow politely, one of the corners of his lips quirked up.

“Actually,” He said, gesturing at Randus, “He’s _Lord_ Duthane now.”

Orem made a conscious effort to exhale the last breath he had taken in the loud, shaky manner it was trying to leave his nose.

“I see,” Brall replied, continuing to look intensely at Ket for a few more seconds, then turning to look at Orem for a moment, then back at the two guests. “I expect the accommodations will be more than enough for the two of you.”

“Yes, certainly,” Randus quickly mumbled in response, quietly, and Brall quickly nodded slowly at them one more time before turning around and leaving without another word, closing the door behind him.

Orem and Trelle immediately sat down, visibly relaxing, and Randus and Ket followed after a second, staying silent.

“What was that about?” Trelle whispered to herself, looking at Ket, who simply shrugged, his expression indifferent as if nothing had happened at all.

“I don’t know,” He said, nonchalantly. “You were saying, Randus?”

“Ah, yes! Uh, I was saying, it was during our first trip to Diamondthrone after we got the title,” Randus started, forcing the strange, uncomfortable moment to pass and continuing to tell his story, which Trelle eventually focused on again.

Orem just continued to look at Ket, who, despite seemingly focused on Randus’ tale as well, eventually caught his stare, apparently noticing the eladrin’s pupiless eyes were fixated on him. Their eyes met, and Ket seemed to drop the mildly interested, relaxed look he was putting on for a moment, his expression turning into something else, something that Orem didn’t seem to be able to read, but that was everything but indifferent.

After an instant, Trelle laughed at what was apparently the punchline to Randus’ story, and Ket took it as a cue to laugh as well, the strange, indecipherable expression replaced by the relaxed one again as he looked away from Orem, and suddenly it was as if nothing at all had happened.

 

* * *

 

The rest of the day went by uneventfully – they chatted for a while longer until Trelle could no longer avoid her wedding preparation duties; Randus and Ket offered to help, and the four of them ended up spending the rest of the day preparing the courtyard where the dinner of the following day was to be held at for the ceremony, despite some gnomes’ complaints that it was wrong for one of the brides, two guests and Master Rivendorn to be accomplishing such a task.

They were tired after the job, but they managed to find a private place to have dinner again, even though it was clear that Trelle probably should be spending time with the rest of the guests as well. The food was light but delicious, and after the meal they were ready to rest, exhausted after an afternoon spent working and, in Randus and Ket’s case, many days spent travelling before their arrival. It was decided Orem was to take them to their rooms and after a quick goodnight hug from Trelle, they were off, chatting quietly along the way.

Randus’ room was first on the corridor where the guest rooms were located, and the other two wished him a goodnight before leaving him at the door and walking towards Ket’s room, at the other end of the corridor.

They walked in silence; it wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, but maybe a contemplative one, as Orem thought about what had happened earlier – that strange moment between Ket and his father. He was almost sure that Ket knew that was on his mind, but he decided not to say anything, taking him to his door and opening it up for him.

“Here we are,” He said, gesturing towards the elegant, comfortable looking room.

Ket nodded and stepped inside, turning around to face Orem and looking at him in silence for a few seconds. Orem stared back, wondering if Ket was going to say anything else, but as he was about to wish him a goodnight, Ket opened his mouth to speak up.

“Orem,” He started, looking more hesitant than Orem had seen him the whole day.

“Yes?” The eladrin encouraged him when Ket didn’t say anything else. He took a deep breath before looking down, averting his gaze.

“You’re… Probably wondering what that was. Earlier, with your father.”

Orem nodded slowly, as he thought he was fairly obvious.

“Yes, I am wondering about that,” He stated when Ket didn’t speak again.

Ket nodded as well.

“I’m guessing they didn’t tell you then,” He said, slowly.

Orem raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. Well,” Ket started, looking up at Orem one more time before his eyes went to the floor again. “I – I don’t really know why I thought they’d tell you. Well. Back _then_ , when Trelle… _incapacitated_ you –“

Orem took a deep, loud breath, and Ket hesitated again before continuing.

“After Trelle did that… Torq left. Then she left, through the portal, then Randus. And then it was just me, your father, your sister and you, on the ground.”

Orem closed his eyes and nodded.

“Well, I… I didn’t just leave. Not by my hand, anyway. I sort of… tried to take you with me.”

Orem suddenly opened his eyes, keeping them on the ground, staying absolutely silent.

“I knew, that you didn’t want to stay. So I told them I was taking you with me, and they weren’t happy with the idea, so I decided to do it by force. But, as I was about to grab my wand, they – they just pushed me out of the Feywild. I’m not sure what happened, but suddenly I was back, and I couldn’t do anything.” Ket finished, taking a deep breath after he was done.

Orem couldn’t do anything other than nod after a few moments of silence, biting his lip as another shaky breath left his nose.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out,” Ket said, his voice almost a whisper, sounding, in that moment, unsure of himself in a way Orem didn’t remember ever hearing him before.

Orem just nodded again.

“I’m sorry,” Ket repeated, looking at the eladrin, unsure of what else to say.

Orem shook his head this time, forcing himself to look up at Ket and smiling weakly at him.

“Thank you,” He whispered back, and it was Ket’s turn to nod. Orem’s eyes fell to the floor again and they were left in silence for about a minute, until he was finally able to speak again.

“Goodnight Ket,” He mumbled, still looking down.

“Goodnight,” Ket replied, weakly, slowly closing the door.

As soon as the door was closed, Orem turned around and started quickly making his way back to his  own room, feeling his eyes suddenly well up with tears – something that hadn’t happened in a long time. He wasn’t completely sure why it was happening; if it was a strange reaction to being able to relax after a tense moment, if it was the painful memory and the upsetting feelings associated to it being brought up, if it was betrayal at the fact his father and Kammis had never told him about it, though he understood why they hadn’t.

As he meditated on it, sitting comfortably on his bed and forcing himself to relax, he realized that all of those factors probably were part of the reason behind his intense reaction, but that there was something else; something he hadn’t taken into consideration at first, and something that hit him hard when he finally realized it:

After all the years he’d spent thinking that all of his friends had abandoned him as if it were nothing, he now knew that someone had tried to stay behind for him.

(And that someone was Ket.)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! been a while huh (sweats)

For the first time in weeks, Orem felt relaxed after his usual six hours of meditation.

He took a few minutes to stretch out his body, got up and started preparing his two outfits for the day – the one he would use during the morning and afternoon, and the one he would wear at the dinner ceremony, the last big event before the wedding proper. Both outfits were elegant and fitted him perfectly, of course, but he was especially proud of the one he had selected for the evening; a pale blue, high collared robe with golden ornaments and a white gold circlet to match them, a single turquoise gem sitting in the middle, to match his eyes. He _almost_ felt sorry for Kammis and Trelle – he didn’t want to steal the show, but it would be hard for them to match his sophisticated attire.

He hoped Ket and Randus had brought the appropriate garments, he thought, with a smile, getting in his morning outfit, simple in comparison, and fixing his hair in the mirror for a few minutes before leaving his room and making his way to the small sitting room where he’d had breakfast with the girls the previous morning. He let a gnome butler know that that’s where he would be having his morning tea and asked him to wake up Master H’zard and Lord Duthane, sitting down and awaiting his guests. The girls wouldn’t be coming this time, too busy with last minute preparations of their last day as an unmarried couple.

Ket was the first to arrive, sitting in front of Orem with a yawn. He was wearing a rather unremarkable white shirt and what seemed to be dress pants and shoes; the most striking thing about the half-elf was that there was a smile on his face when he nodded at the eladrin in greeting.

“Hey,” He leaned back against the couch, allowing himself to relax since there was no one else in the room.

“Hello, Ket,” Orem greeted, effortlessly smiling back.

It was strange, smiling at Ket so openly, but Orem seemed to be feeling a newfound appreciation towards him after the short exchange they’d had the previous night.

“Slept well?” He asked when Ket yawned again. He hummed in response, still smiling.

“Mm-hm. Nothing beats having a bed underneath you after sleeping on the floor for a week or so.”

“An eladrin bed, nonetheless!” Orem added with a grin.

Ket suppressed a laugh.

“Could’ve been a goblin bed, honestly. I think I was so tired I wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Don’t let my father hear that, he’ll kick you out of the manor,” Orem whispered, amused.

They exchanged a few more words and then fell into comfortable silence. There was no mention of the night before, but Orem could feel something was different – the atmosphere wasn’t as tense, and he felt what he could only identify as genuine gratitude towards Ket. Even after Randus arrived and the three fell into playful bickering, the change was clear to him, especially if he let himself think back to the times of their adventures together (it wasn’t so painful anymore, now that he knew someone had stayed for him). There was no bitterness in his usual teasing comments directed at Ket, no maliciousness, none of the hurtful undertones he always used to hide underneath. That was weird in itself, but even weirder was the fact that he didn’t feel the need to be _mean_.

Ket seemed to be more open than he ever had been around them before, and instead of it making Orem want to mock him, it only made Orem feel _good._

(Sometimes, Orem would catch Ket smiling directly at him; that also made him feel surprisingly good.)

 

* * *

 

“So. Are you ready for the ceremony tonight?” Orem asked once he finished his tea.

Ket and Randus exchanged a look.

“I guess?” Ket said, not sounding too sure of himself. “I mean, I’m not sure of what it encompasses? Do we need to prepare anything?”

“Well, tonight’s the last dance ceremony,” Orem explained, “There’s a dinner, and then the betrothed share their last dance as an unmarried couple before leaving off to separate rooms, so they don’t see each other until the wedding ceremony proper.”

Randus sighed in relief at the information, and Orem raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

“When you said it was a dance ceremony, I was scared _we_ ’d have to dance as well,” he explained the source of his relief, with a relaxed smile. Orem looked at him uncomfortably.

“You _do_ have to dance, Randus,” Orem clarified, looking from him to Ket, who looked horrified for a second before composing himself again. “Everyone at the ceremony is supposed to dance.”

“Um,” Ket started, frowning. “I don’t really dance.”

Orem rolled his eyes – not that either of his guests could tell, considering his lack of pupils.

“It’s not like you’re going to be the center of attention, you don’t need to be an amazing dancer.”

“No,” Ket clarified, shaking his head. “I don’t dance _at all_? I don’t know how to.”

“I had to learn how to waltz, back at home,” Randus said, looking as uncomfortable as Ket did. “But… I’m not exactly good at it…”

Orem sighed and shook his head as well, not sure if he should be worried or amused.

“That’s alright. I guess I should have expected this.” He said.

Randus looked visibly relieved, and Ket relaxed slightly. Orem couldn’t help but grin at their reactions before standing up and saying one last sentence before dramatically leaving the room:

“I’m getting you a dance instructor.”

 

* * *

 

Turns out, not even a Rivendorn could arrange for a dance instructor in such short notice.

Randus and Ket found themselves in the emptiest room Orem had been able to find. Trelle stood next to the eladrin with an excited look on her face, as Orem took a long glance at her, and then at the two men, considering their heights and the fact that, traditionally, both of them would be the lead in a dance.

Things would be a lot easier if Kammis was available for the dance lesson as well, but she wasn’t.

Orem sighed and felt his cheeks flush as he turned around, mostly so that nobody could see him as he made his decision.

“Randus is shorter than me,” He stated, as if it was the only logical conclusion. “Trelle can be his partner.”

He turned around to look at the three of them again; Randus was looking at Ket, Trelle was looking at him with an almost amused expression. Surprisingly, so was Ket, as Orem took a step forward to stand in front of him.

He didn’t need to announce the other pairing decision.

“Alright,” Orem said, as confidently as he could. “Randus, you and Ket will likely be leading the dance. Your,” He paused for a second, gingerly taking a hold of Ket’s right hand with his right hand, guiding it towards his left side and then moving it up his back. “Your right hand goes on your partner’s shoulder blade, like this.”

He avoided looking at Ket’s face completely, deciding instead to direct his instructions at Randus, whose metal hand came to rest awkwardly at Trelle’s shoulder. She corrected the positioning effortlessly, moving his hand from the top of her shoulder to its back, letting it cup her shoulder blade, and then rested her own hand on Randus’s shoulder.

“Your left hand,” Orem continued, this time lifting Ket’s left wrist up in the air, “Should clasp your partner’s right hand, at about shoulder height.”

He waited for Randus to be holding Trelle’s hand, and felt Ket’s fingers wrap around his own, not quite the right way.

“Not like that,” He mumbled, untwining their fingers and relaxing his position to hold Ket’s hand the correct way, showing him the way it should be done. “This depends on the dance, of course, but for this one, you should – hm.” He frowned, lifting his left hand from Ket’s shoulder to better adjust his fingers, almost cradling Ket’s hand in his own, in the process.

“There,” He concluded, finally satisfied with their position. He finally risked looking at Ket’s face, half surprised to find it so close to his, Ket’s eyes already on him, a small smile on his lips. It wasn’t common for Orem to be so close to someone – even when he had to dance, usually with a partner of his parents’ choosing, at a party, it was detached and impersonal – miles away from the smile on Ket’s face.

Trelle’s voice telling Randus to straighten his back made him focus on their posture again and pretend he couldn’t feel his face heat up.

“Yes,” He managed to get out, hoping his voice didn’t sound as strangled as he felt it was. He quickly returned his left hand to Ket’s shoulder, sprawling his fingertips over the seam of his jacket. “Elbows at shoulder’s height, knees loose and back upright.”

Now that they had the posture down, it was easier to start teaching them the simple steps, with Trelle’s help. Ket caught on quickly; Randus not so much, constantly stepping over Trelle’s feet, much to her frustration and amusement. Orem could hear his continuous apologies and quiet distressed sounds.

After a few minutes, not as preoccupied with the teaching anymore, Orem allowed himself to take notice of the weight of Ket’s hands on him – they had grown confident and steady, the hand on his back holding him maybe a little closer than the dance would typically require, the one on his hand holding it up effortlessly, as if it came naturally to him. He had to make an unfamiliar effort to keep his own hands steady when he realized he had already grown accustomed to Ket’s hands on his body, like that. It was a strange but not unwanted feeling, almost comfortable, despite his now hyper-awareness of the places where his body was in contact with Ket’s. He blamed it on his lack of physical contact throughout the years, and moved on to look up into Ket’s face.

Unlike his confident hands, Ket’s eyes betrayed his inexperience with the dance. They were downturned, focused on the still unfamiliar steps, his expression a picture of concentration.

“Ket.”

Ket looked up at him, expecting a correction.

“When dancing, you should always keep your eyes on your partner,” Orem informed. Ket frowned for a second, looking back down, barely avoiding a misstep.

“It’s rude to stare at your feet,” Orem added, “You’ll insult the maidens.”

Ket’s eyes immediately met his again, this time with a hint of amusement. “The maidens?”

“The eladrin girls,” Orem explained, “Who you’ll dance with at the party.”

Once again, it hit him that they were probably closer together than the dance required. There was no need to correct Ket on that – his subsequent dance partners at the party would be sure to keep their distance.

Ket chuckled, and the sound caused Orem’s cheeks to inexplicably heat up again.

“Alright,” Ket agreed, “But the _maidens_ better not complain if their feet get stepped on.”

 

* * *

 

Once Ket and Randus had a good enough understanding of how waltzing worked and Randus started to be able to mostly steer clear of Trelle’s feet, Orem decided they’d had enough practice. They had lunch, a quick and simple meal, and then Orem promptly retired to his room – it was time to prepare for the dinner ceremony.

First, he took his time to bathe – he’d asked one of the gnomes to prepare his bath, so when he walked into his private bathroom chamber he was immediately filled with the fragrance of the water, scented just the way he liked it. He disrobed and let himself sink into the bathtub, letting out a quiet sigh, his skin burning pleasantly as it made contact with the hot water. Only now he was realizing how tense he was, how much the dance lesson had stressed him out. The water forced his muscles to relax, and he suddenly felt exhausted, almost as if the only reason he’d been able to stand for so long in that room was because of Ket’s hands, holding him up.

Orem sighed. He felt his cheeks heat up as well, and he wasn’t sure if it was solely because of the hot water.

Ket’s hands…

He pushed away the thought, splashing his face with water and sinking deeper into the tub. He wasn’t used to it – to being touched, in any sort of way. He avoided dancing at parties, always tried to focus his diplomatic efforts on entertaining his guests with stories of his adventures or of his research endeavors. He had little to no friends, in the Feywild; not to mention eladrin weren’t usually keen on touching each other without having a specific reason to do so. The hugs he had gotten from Randus and Ket when they had arrived, Trelle’s constant casual touches and Ket’s hands on his back while they danced consisted of more touching than he had been the receptor of in years – ever since he’d been left alone in the Feywild.

Except he hadn’t. _Ket_ had tried to stay back for him.

He groaned, pushing Ket out of his thoughts again and focusing on starting to wash himself. He didn’t want his fingers to get too pruney.

The stress of the dance lesson had left him sweatier than he’d expected, and definitely far from the level of composed that was expected of him; he let the smell of his bath salts relax him and leisurely washed his long hair in the lilac tinted water, taking care to condition his hair with the lotion he’d been developing in his free time (it made his hair softer than it had ever been, and it smelled like fresh lavender; Orem hadn’t told anyone else, but he was immensely proud of it).

After one hour, he was done with the bath, and ready to prepare himself for the party. All members of the Rivendorn family had had new outfits tailor-made for both the dinner ceremony and the wedding proper, the following day, and his robes were already spread out on top of the bed. He hadn’t had such a nice outfit made for him in a long time – the tunic was high-collared and sober, but it was made of a rich silk that gave it a light, elegant look, fitting of the Spring Woods, and embroidered with golden thread at places, highlighting Orem’s hair.

Once he was dressed, he called a gnome to help him comb his hair. He was told Randus and Ket were similarly being helped by gnomes; apparently, they had only brought one set of formal wear each, not knowing that the ceremony was spread out throughout two days, and the servants had rushed all afternoon to find them appropriate outfits. Orem was amused – he couldn’t help but wonder what had been done about Randus’s arm, particularly, and was entertained by the thought of proper eladrin stylists fussing over Ket’s look, which was definitely too rugged for their tastes.

The gnome braided his bangs in a simple crown that went around the back of his head, letting the rest of Orem’s long hair fall behind his shoulders and fitting the circlet he had selected perfectly on his forehead. He smiled, looking at his reflection in the mirror – today, he was going all out, but tomorrow he would wear his hair down, and let the spotlight fall on the brides; Kammis wouldn’t be pleased if his outfit was more eye-catching than hers and Trelle’s. He thanked the gnome for a job well done and looked at his reflection one last time before leaving the room, ready for dinner.

He made his way to the courtyard, the large, round tables they had placed the day before already prepared and decorated for the ceremony. All sorts of flowers hanged from the rails that covered the courtyard, and lights floated across the space, illuminating the tables as the warm spring sun began to set. Some eladrin were already beginning to sit at their predetermined tables; Orem glanced at the larger table at the head of the wall, where his own family and the bride’s would be sitting and smiled. Kammis would be pleased with the décor.

He was asked by one of the servants to go get Lord Duthane and Master H’zard and so went back inside, to the room where they’d been earlier, and was greeted by the image of Randus and Ket, dressed in typical eladrin fashion.

It was a surprise, to say the least. Randus looked a lot better than Orem had expected him to, and he reminded himself to congratulate the stylists when he got the chance. They seemed to have cut one arm out of an existing formal robe, so Randus could fit his metal arm through it – however, to hide the cut, and to make his outfit more even, they had given him an elegant, high-collared vest, to wear over the robe, covering both his shoulders and making it seem like the clothes had been made with his mechanic prosthesis in mind. He still looked slightly awkward; Randus didn’t look like he belonged in that sort of graceful clothing, and even though there had been a clear attempt at styling his hair, it was already returning to its usual messy curls. However, how good he looked was still a surprise, considering the outfit had been, mostly, improvised.

Ket, on the other hand…

Orem felt himself take an unexpectedly deep and quick breath that almost made him choke, and as he felt his cheeks heat up again, he was deeply thankful that he was an eladrin, and that nobody could tell exactly where he was looking at.

Ket was an attractive man – it had been a tough thing to acknowledge to himself at first, but there was no point lying about the obvious. It made Orem jealous, sometimes, and he didn’t understand why Ket, most of the time, didn’t seem to wear clothes that would highlight his natural good-looks. 

Orem had once admitted that he thought Ket had a nice sense of fashion, and he didn’t know why he didn’t apply it to himself. What he was looking at now was a Ket whose outfit had been carefully selected to fit him, to make him look as elegant as possible, and the result was striking. His hair was slicked back, in eladrin fashion, and his preferred goatee seemed to be freshly sculpted, the way it had been the first time Orem had met him, in the Astral Sea. He was wearing a dark red tunic suit, made of a light, summer fabric; not only it was form-fitting, it also seemed to fit Ket’s personality itself, the color too dark to be common in an eladrin wardrobe, making him stand out in a tasteful and subdued way.

Ket seemed to notice his eyes lingering on them; when Orem was quiet for a moment too long, a hint of a smile teased at the half-elf’s lips.

Orem cleared his throat, making sure his voice was stable before speaking.

He really would have to compliment the stylists on making his guests look so adequate.

“I see you were well taken care of,” He blinked twice, turning around and gesturing for them to follow him into the room.

“Yes,” He heard Randus’s voice coming from behind him, as they started following him into the courtyard, “But I really do wish there were more pockets.”

 

* * *

 

Dinner wasn’t exactly the most pleasant event, especially with the way the tables were assigned. Orem, of course, sat at the main table, along with Kammis and their parents, and Trelle and her parents. Ket and Randus had been sat at a completely different table, along with a couple of eladrin who were important enough to be invited to the wedding, but not important enough to be sat with other important eladrin, and their three red-headed children. The youngest was a young boy, who was sitting to Randus’s right, and who seemed to be unable to stop staring at his prosthetic arm; the oldest was a girl with long, wavy hair, who seemed to keep batting her eyelashes at Ket, and getting subtly reprimanded by her mother for it, which amused Orem immensely.

Trelle’s other relatives were sitting at a different table, where every seat was occupied by an elf, apart from one, where Orem could recognize the spectacled, one-horned figure of Stagzi, who seemed to have arrived at the last minute, and who was making polite conversation with Trelle’s siblings.

The other tables were filled with other important eladrin, who Orem recognized, but wasn’t particularly keen on interacting with.

A particularly loud reprimand came from Ket and Randus’s table, and Orem looked at it to find that, apparently, the young boy hadn’t been able to resist his urge to touch Randus’s metal arm, and was now being warned by his father to behave. His mother looked mortified, the other child was trying to stifle a laugh, and the oldest girl was still looking dreamily at Ket; when Orem looked at Ket, though, their eyes met, and Ket’s embarrassed expression broke into a smile that made Orem’s stomach jump pleasantly, from across the courtyard.

His attention was brought back to his own table by his mother’s voice.

“Don’t you think so, Orem?”

Orem blinked through a moment of confusion, raising his eyebrows at her. “What?”

There was a barely perceptible hint of annoyance on her face that disappeared before she spoke again. “I was commenting on how elegant the Snowblossoms’ daughter looks tonight. She’s grown to be an intelligent and beautiful young woman,” She turned to Orem, smiling. “Don’t you agree?”

Orem sighed. He knew where this was going.

“Yes, I suppose.”

“Her parents came all the way from the Fen of Winters for the wedding. You should invite her to dance after dinner, Orem. _She_ would be a spouse worthy of a Rivendorn.”

Across the table from Orem, Trelle seemed to be staring intensively at her plate, barely concealing her anger at the thinly veiled comment on _her_ unworthiness as a spouse. Kammis seemed to deal with the comment by looking blankly at Orem, who decided not to acknowledge his mother’s suggestion and simply take another bite of his dinner.

“Her family is very important in the Fen. It would be a wedding that would bring the Feywild together again,” Althea continued, more pressing this time.

Orem tried to smile politely.

“She _does_ look very elegant, but I’m not interested in a relationship right now, Mother.”

“Orem.”

The word came from his father, this time, and it had a final quality to it; this wasn’t Orem’s decision to make.

“You will invite her to dance, after dinner is over.”

The table was silent. Orem’s grip on his fork tightened, and he focused his gaze on the small pile of peas on his plate.

_Don’t ruin your sister’s wedding._

“One dance,” He said, looking Brall in his eyes and trying not to look as defiant as he was feeling.

After a tense moment of silence, Brall nodded and the atmosphere seemed to relax once again, as Althea changed topics and commented on how nice Trelle’s mother’s hair looked, now that it had been styled by eladrin stylists.

Orem wasn’t feeling hungry anymore, but he took a mouthful of peas and chewed in silence, letting his eyes roam across the courtyard and swallowing loudly when they seemed to stop on Ket again, out of their own volition.   

 

* * *

 

After the long, awkward dinner, during which Orem’s table was mostly silent (apart from one lengthy conversation where Althea explained to Trelle’s parents who each of the eladrin present at the party were and why each family had been invited, and the occasional compliment on the décor of the courtyard coming from Trelle’s mother), it was time for the ball. Servants came to take the plates back to the kitchen, and then removed all the tables from the courtyard, apart from the main table, where the brides’ parents remained seated. The guests stood up and moved towards the edges of the courtyard – it was time for the brides to have their last dance as unmarried couple, an important part of the traditional eladrin wedding ceremony.

A quartet started playing a slow waltz, and Trelle and Kammis solemnly walked to the center of the courtyard, hand in hand, and then began to dance. All eyes in the room were on them as they bowed to each other and then touched the palms of their right hands together and began to rotate – it was a slow, traditional dance, that required minimal touching. Their eyes were focused on each other, and Orem could tell, from the look in Trelle’s eyes, how much she wanted to ignore the regulations and just kiss Kammis right there, or at least touch her more than this dance allowed. Despite this, it was clear how happy they were in that moment. Both girls had wide smiles in their faces, and when the music started to pick up and the first dance was over, they were happy to hold each other more closely and dance more freely, now that other couples could begin to join the dance.

Orem waited until a few more couples had joined and then made his way to the eldest daughter of the Snowblossom family, the one his parents had told him to dance with. He bowed to her, smiled politely and held up his hand, asking her to dance, and she graciously accepted, taking his hand and walking with him towards the center of the room.

The first thing Orem noticed, dancing with the girl, was how detached she seemed from the dance. She seemed content enough to dance with him, had perfect posture and easily knew all the steps, but she kept her distance from him, and it felt like her hands, one over her shoulder, the other one hovering against his own, were barely there, touching as little as she could. Orem couldn’t help but compare it to the dance lesson, when Ket’s steps had been hesitant, but his hands had been steady, and his body close to Orem’s, and his eyes on his face, even though that meant he would occasionally step on Orem’s feet.

Somehow, despite the clumsy dance and the awkward situation, that dance had felt more natural, more comfortable than this one.

The girl’s eyes were on Orem – at least on his face, if not on his eyes – he couldn’t tell exactly where she was looking at, but that meant she couldn’t tell where Orem was looking at, either, so after a minute, he let his eyes roam the courtyard.

Trelle and Kammis were still dancing, their bodies closer, now, their eyes still on each other and the wide smiles still on their lips, as if they were completely alone, with nobody watching them.

About a dozen other couples were dancing, and Orem was surprised to see that Randus was included in that number – he was dancing with an elf girl, one of Trelle’s relatives, and even though he didn’t really have the steps down and kept looking at his feet, his partner seemed amused, stifling a laugh.

The girl who had spent dinner batting her eyelashes at Ket still had her eyes on him, and after a while, gathered up the courage to walk up to him. Orem saw her shyly ask for a dance, but Ket, surprisingly, seemed to refuse, with a polite, apologetic smile.

Orem almost frowned. Why had he spent the afternoon teaching him how to dance if he wasn’t going to dance at all? Besides, it was rude to deny someone a dance; Orem would need to have a word with him, later.

Trelle’s parents joined the dance, too, but the Rivendorns remained at the table, watching the ball. Orem made sure to pass in front of them multiple times, as if to show them that he had done as he’d been told, and invited the Snowblossom’s daughter to a dance.

Once the song was over, couples started to change dance partners, and Orem took the chance to bow to the girl, thanking her for the dance before walking away from the couples, who were already beginning to dance again. Randus seemed to be caught in the middle of the change of partners, and another of Trelle’s relatives took hold of him, pulling him into the next dance. Ket was standing against one of the poles surrounding the courtyard, under one of the hanging lights, almost as if a spotlight was on him, telling Orem where he should go next – he was barely conscious of his decision to walk up to him, and only realized he was doing so when Ket’s smile made his stomach twist.

“You refused a dance,” Orem stated, crossing his arms to mimic Ket’s own pose.

Ket raised an eyebrow, surprised that he had noticed.

“Yes?”

Orem tilted his head to the side. “That’s rude, you know?”

Ket shrugged.

“I don’t really want to dance with strangers.”

“Well, almost everyone here is a stranger to you, so it’s not like you have much of a choice.”

There was a pause, and Ket uncomfortably shifted his position, looking away for a moment and getting an odd expression in his face. “You’re not.”

Orem blinked. He had to be misunderstanding what Ket was implying.

“Excuse me?”

Ket seemed to hesitate before looking back at him with a half-smile.

“You’re not a stranger.”

Orem tensed up, watching in shock as Ket held out his hand.

“May I have this dance?” He asked, leaving no place for misunderstandings.

Orem opened his mouth, but his voice didn’t seem to want to come out, so he just closed it and blinked again. He noticed Ket swallowing hard, could see the hint of hesitation in his eyes.

“Wouldn’t that look – strange?” He managed to stutter out.

Ket’s expression seemed to falter for a second, and he looked almost hurt, which made Orem’s stomach twist again, this time in a different way.

“I don’t know,” Ket replied, slightly lowering his hand, but not withdrawing the offer completely. “Would it? Do you care?”

Orem’s eyes widened, and Ket smiled sheepishly. “You should – relax, a little. I mean, even Randus is dancing.”

Orem looked around the courtyard. About half of the people in the party were currently dancing, and the ones who weren’t seemed to be mostly focused on the brides.

He took a deep breath, looked back at Ket and smiled, taking his hand and letting the half-elf walk him towards the center of the room, just as the song changed again and couples switched partners again. Ket slid one hand up Orem’s back, finding the right position and letting it rest under his shoulder blade, not quite accurate, but still steady, like it had been before. His other hand held Orem’s up, and they began to dance, their bodies closer than they should have been, just like during the lesson.

If Orem knew _he_ would be the one dancing with Ket during the party, maybe he would have bothered to correct him earlier, but it was too late. Correcting Ket now would be rude, would embarrass him, would draw attention to the odd pairing. It was better to act is if it was normal – maybe he could try to pretend nobody could see them, that they were practicing alone again.

He didn’t have to try too hard. Ket seemed to be following his advice from earlier, and was keeping his eyes focused on Orem’s. It made him painfully aware of how close their bodies were, but it also made it, somehow, easy to forget that they weren’t alone in the courtyard. In fact, Orem was finding it very hard to think of anything else but _Ket_.

“I see you’re following my advice,” He said, unthinkingly, his voice coming out hoarser than he wanted it to.

“Yeah,” Ket replied, smiling, his eyes never leaving Orem’s, “Wouldn’t want to insult the maidens.”

 

* * *

 

The song changed, after a couple of minutes, but at that point, Orem had mostly forgotten about the party. When the couples around them broke apart, switching partners for the next dance, Orem’s hand didn’t leave Ket’s shoulder. It stayed there for the following dance, and for the one after that one; it was only after that, when the quartet started playing a slower dance, and Ket’s hand slid down on his body to hold him even closer, that Orem seemed to realize his mistake. Dancing with the same partner for more than one dance meant something – commitment. Single eladrin were supposed to keep switching partners, if they wanted to continue dancing. 

Of course, Orem was aware that Ket wouldn’t know this – but everyone else at the party did.

This was when it hit him that they were, in fact, at a party, and not alone, practicing, in a room. Orem’s eyes instinctively flew to the main table, where his parents still sat.

He couldn’t be completely sure of where his father was looking at, but it certainly felt like he was staring at them.

Orem retracted his hands from their comfortable places on Ket’s body and took a step back, as if he’d been burned, trying to control the panic he was suddenly feeling. Ket seemed simultaneously surprised, disappointed and worried as he looked at Orem questioningly.

“Sorry,” He mumbled, turning around and making his way out of the courtyard, without another look at Ket, nor at the table.

 

* * *

 

He didn’t walk much – he ended up sitting down on a stone bench on one of the cloisters that connected to the main courtyard, facing a small patio decorated with flowers. It was far enough from the party that none of the guests would run into him by accident, but still close enough that he could hear the music, slightly muffled by the stone walls of the walkway. The spring night was cool, around him; it helped him calm down, and he removed the white gold circlet from his head, setting it down on the bench next to him before undoing the braid in his hair. The party was over, for him, and he closed his eyes and let himself relax, resting against the cold stone wall behind him.

After a minute, he heard steps approaching, and opened his eyes to see Ket, looking at him from one end of the corridor, with a worried expression, seemingly unsure if he was violating Orem’s privacy.

Orem managed a weak smile, shifted slightly to the side and closed his eyes again, leaving space for Ket to sit with him, if he so desired. He heard him approach, and felt him sit next to him. The eladrin sighed heavily – he suddenly felt exhausted, and momentarily had to battle the urge to rest his head on Ket’s shoulder.

After a minute, Ket broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them.

“Are you okay?”

Orem opened his eyes, turning his face to look at him – the worried expression was still there. He smiled sheepishly. “Yes. It’s –” He thought back to his hurried exit from the courtyard and felt his face heat up. “I. Sorry I left like that.”

Ket shook his head.

“It’s okay. Did I –“ He hesitated, turning to look at the patio in front of them. “Did I do anything wrong, or?...”

“No!” Orem said, too quickly. “I mean. No, I – it’s. It wasn’t – your fault.”

He thought, momentarily, about how he would never have admitted to something not being Ket’s fault, years ago.

“It’s just,” He continued, his voice barely a whisper. “I got distracted. I forgot to tell you that, in this sort of party, you’re supposed to switch partners after every dance.”

“Huh,” Ket said, sounding surprised. “I thought I saw some eladrin dance with the same person more than once?”

Orem had been hoping he wouldn’t have to explain _that_ part.

“Well, you’re supposed to switch partners… _Unless_ you’re in a committed relationship,” He explained, reluctantly. “Then you’re supposed to dance with one person, only.”

It was Ket’s turn to be silent.

“Oh,” He mumbled, after a while.

“Yes,” Orem agreed, sympathetically.

They fell silent again. The song changed to a quicker waltz, and Orem just listened, for a while. There were some cicadas, too, their own song coming somewhere from the flowers, in front of them.

Ket’s knee was touching his, and once again, Orem considered laying his head on Ket’s shoulder.

“I –“ Ket said, interrupting the silence. Orem looked at him – he was still facing forward, and there was still a hint of worry on his face. “I’m sorry. I hope it doesn’t cause any problems.”

Maybe it would, but Orem didn’t want to think about it, not right now.

“It’s alright,” He looked away, feeling his mouth dry. He pondered whether to say his next words out loud. “I – don’t regret it.”

It was Ket’s turn to face Orem, who kept facing forward, but who could imagine the taller man looking surprised.

“Thanks, Ket,” He added, quietly, a soft smile making its way to his lips. “I… enjoyed it.”

He hesitantly turned to face Ket again, and was greeted with a smile. Their knees were still touching; the sides of their hands, he realized now, were touching too, and his face was really close to Ket’s, like it had been during the dance. He felt his stomach twist, again.

And then, someone else came around the corner of the walkway, and the sound of steps made Orem jump.

“There you are!” Randus’s voice came, sounding relieved, and Ket immediately turned away from him, to face the sound. Orem felt an irrational pang of disappointment. “I thought those elves were going to dance me to death.”

Ket laughed, and the disappointment inside Orem was replaced with something else.

“I didn’t expect you to be the life of the party,” Ket said, as Randus approached them. He did look tired – Orem couldn’t help but feel sorry for him.

“Neither did I,” Randus replied, leaning back against a stone column, in front of the other two. “If my mom was here, I’d never hear the end of it.”

 

* * *

 

The three of them spent the remainder of the party there, away from the action, in comfortable conversation. Eventually, the music from the quartet dwindled, and they could tell the festivities were over. They walked back to the courtyard, and Orem was relieved to see that his father was no longer present, as were most of the guests.

Trelle and Kammis were the last couple to stop dancing, and they shared one last, long kiss, before going their separate ways. They couldn’t spend the night before the wedding together, and wouldn’t see each other again until the ceremony itself.

Orem took Randus and Ket back to their respective rooms, again. They were all exhausted, by then, but after all the stress, they’d spent a nice night laughing together, and were all in a good mood. Randus’s room was first, down the corridor, so Ket and Orem wished him a good night before continuing to make their way to Ket’s room, in comfortable silence.

They finally stopped at a door, and Ket opened it, leaned on the doorframe and let out a content sigh, smiling at Orem. It still felt strange, to see him smile so openly, like that, and Orem couldn’t help but feel _happy_ at the sight, and he easily returned the smile.

The whole night felt like a blur – a haze of stress, and dancing, and Ket finding him in the dark to make sure he was okay, and smiling at him, like he was smiling now.

He looked good, and not just because of his clothes, and his hair, which wasn’t as perfectly styled as it had been, anymore. He looked, Orem realized, happy, and he didn’t remember ever thinking Ket looked happy, before. The thought made his stomach twist again, and it was a really pleasant twist, this time.

It almost seemed rehearsed, like a dance; In what felt like one single motion, Ket took a step back, inside his room, and Orem simultaneously took a step forward and closed the door behind him, and in a fraction of a moment, Ket’s hands were on his face, and his hands were on the back of Ket’s head, and they were _kissing_ , and Orem had never felt so good in his life. Ket took a step forward, again, pushing Orem gently, but with a hint of urgency, against the back of the door. His hands slid down his shoulders, one stopping to grab at the back of Orem’s robes, and the other holding his waist, keeping him close, and Ket was still smiling but there was a sense of desperation in the kiss, like years of tension coming undone all at once, against Orem’s lips – tension Orem hadn’t even realized was there, holding him down, and now that it was gone this felt so necessary and _right_ that he couldn’t imagine them stopping.

They pulled away for an instant, to catch their breaths, and for a second Orem could see a look of disbelief on Ket’s face – but in that moment, to Orem, this felt so _obvious_ that he couldn’t understand what it was that Ket was finding incredulous.

Their lips came together, again, and Orem buried his fingers in Ket’s hair, and as he heard Ket let out a very pleased, _very pleasing_ noise, Orem pushed all the nagging thoughts of how _he probably shouldn’t be kissing Ket on the eve of his sister’s wedding_ to the back of his mind, and let them be overwhelmed and replaced by thoughts of Ket’s lips on his, and Ket’s hands on him, and _Ket_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (eye emoji)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh hey its been almost a year huh!!! 
> 
> anyway, this chapter is dedicated to my pal domoz. happy birthday!!!  
> you probably thought i was never going to fulfill our ketorem death pact, but i actually just wanted to post this on your birthday!  
> i hope you enjoy this Extra dramatic chapter

It took a few hours for Orem to finally start processing what had happened.

He didn’t sleep, but Ket’s slow and steady breaths against his skin had lulled him into a similar state of relaxation he had never experienced before. For a long while, he just watched Ket sleep. He looked more relaxed than Orem had ever seen him, and it was hard not to stare – at his tousled hair, every hint of its previous styling now gone; at his slightly parted, slightly swollen lips; at the soft expression on his face.

Even if he closed his eyes, it was hard to focus on anything other than Ket. He felt warm, against Ket’s body, and Ket’s hand was resting on Orem’s back, almost protectively, and he could feel the slow rise and fall of Ket’s chest against his own, and the sound of his breathing was relaxing and comforting.

It was almost too much, until it _was_.

Ket sighed in his sleep and unconsciously shifted his position, pulling Orem closer to him, and then Orem realized that, if he focused on it, he could hear Ket’s heart, beating steadily in his chest. It felt like such an intimate moment that it jolted Orem out of his relaxed state, and he froze against Ket, his breathing halting for a moment before he exhaled shakily, suddenly trying not to panic.

He forced himself to take a couple more deep breaths before finally attempting to move out of Ket’s grasp without waking him up, his heartbeat so erratic that he almost feared it could wake Ket up by itself. He managed to sit up, and the half-elf shifted with his movement, his arm still relaxed over Orem’s body, now lightly holding his thighs. He held his breath and managed to crawl out of bed; Ket’s sleeping form seemed disturbed for a second, now that he had nothing left to hold onto, but the crease in his forehead soon vanished again and he appeared to relax. Orem let go of the breath he was holding and shivered, forcing himself to look away from Ket and at the scene surrounding them.

He felt cold, against the spring night air, without Ket’s comforting warmth; it made him simultaneously panic harder and wonder why he had wanted to leave it in the first place. He shook his head, exhaled shakily again and scrambled to pick up his clothes from the floor, where they had been thrown carelessly and now lay in pile, mingled with Ket’s. Orem dressed up quickly, combed his hair with his fingers the best he could and placed his white gold circlet back in on his head (disbelievingly disapproving of himself for apparently having been entranced by Ket to the point of throwing jewelry on the ground), trying to restore a semblance of composure to his appearance; he couldn’t be seen leaving someone’s – _Ket’s_ – room looking like that.

He took one last look at the scene he was leaving behind – Ket’s clothes still strewn across the floor and the sheets still crumpled up in a manner that made what had happened in that room rather clear. What was surprisingly difficult to leave behind was the strangely bittersweet vision of Ket lying there, still looking relaxed, and his arm still in the position it had been holding Orem in, as if he was expecting him to return. Orem forced himself to look away, left the room as quietly as he could and started walking, his panic heightened by the fear of being seen leaving the room.

He kept walking seemingly aimlessly until he found himself in front of Kammis’s door – a door which, he knew, he shouldn’t be knocking at, not on that night. He wasn’t sure what time it was, how many hours he had watched Ket sleep for, but it wouldn’t be long until she would have to start getting ready for the ceremony. But there was nobody else Orem could go to – going to Trelle would have the same problem, with the added damage that she would certainly only be excited by the prospect of some sort of _relationship_ forming between Ket and Orem, which was _not_ what was happening here, and there was no way he could go to _Randus_ about it. Therefore, his sister was the only viable choice.

Orem sighed. She would be angry, but she would have to understand; this was, probably, the only way to avoid ruining her wedding.

 

* * *

 

Kammis heard a knock at her door.

Her eyes immediately shot open. She was having trouble meditating, anyway, so a distraction was, in a way, welcome. However, it was too early for her to be woken up to start preparations, which meant that, whoever was at her door was probably about to give her bad news. Probably the violinist she had picked had the flu, or they couldn’t get enough lilies for the altar decorations, or something equally menial – or it could be Trelle. She _knew_ she wasn’t supposed to see Kammis before the wedding, but Kammis had told her that if she needed anything, she could come, as long as nobody saw her on the way.

Kammis sighed. She _hoped_ it was Trelle. She really didn’t feel like dealing with another eladrin right now.

“Trelle?..” She asked, quietly, staying put in her spot, sitting cross-legged at her bed.

There was a pause.

“ _It’s Orem._ ” The muffled reply came from the door.

Kammis rolled her eyes, and considered ignoring it, but he already knew he was there, and would probably keep bothering her if she didn’t open the door, so after a moment she acquiesced and stood up, walking to the door and opening it to be faced with a sight she wasn’t expecting. Her brother looked more disheveled than she had seen him look in years; only after battles had she seen him look this tousled up, and even then, this was different – his beautiful new robes weren’t dirty, but they looked crumpled, and his hair was unruly to the point where it almost looked like it had been purposefully messed up. On top of it, saying he looked nervous would be an understatement. Kammis couldn’t help but feel a little sympathetic in her annoyance.

“Orem,” She started, trying to look calm, but making her irritation clear, “I’m getting married in 6 hours. This better be important.”

Orem frowned, upset at the implication that he would look this anxious over something unimportant. “It _is._ ”

“Then _please_ hurry up and say it.”

Orem chewed on his lip and looked at the corridor to his side uncomfortably, and then back at Kammis, who sighed and stepped away from the door, gesturing for Orem to come inside quickly. He scurried in behind her and let her close the door and then stare at him expectantly, waiting for him to spit it out.

He looked down and took a deep breath.

“I... Did something I really shouldn’t have done…”

Kammis’s shoulders tensed up in genuine worry.

“Orem,” She said, more pressing, but also gentler, sensing this was a delicate matter, “What did you do?”

Orem continued facing the floor but closed his eyes, and his face went red.

“I… I slept with someone.”

Kammis’s shoulders dropped in relief, but in exchange she felt her annoyance rise again.

“I can’t _believe_ you’re bothering me right before my wedding to _brag_.”

Orem didn’t say anything else; his eyes remained closed, now more tightly shut, and he didn’t really look like he was bragging at all. He just looked panicked, ashamed, and like he was about to start crying at any moment now.

Kammis raised her eyebrows – there was clearly something more to this. Her expression softened up and she gathered up all of her patience and waited for Orem to say something else, something that would maybe, at least, make this into a more sensible reason to bother her today. Finally, he opened his mouth to continue, saying the next few words quietly.

“I slept with. Ket.”

Kammis repressed the need to sigh again.

She still didn’t really know what to say and was definitely still more than just a little annoyed, but Orem was clearly not okay, so even though this was supposed to be _her_ day, after a moment of silence, she turned around to walk back to her bed, sat down on the edge and patted the spot next to her.

Orem reluctantly made his way to the bed as well and sat in silence.

“So,” Kammis started, “What’s… Wrong with that?”

“What’s _wrong_?!” Orem finally looked up at her, frowning. “It’s _Ket_!”

Kammis winced. She should have known Orem would be unable to have a reasonable conversation in his current state.

“It’s... a little unexpected, yes, but is it such a big problem?”

Orem made a slight motion with his head, which Kammis recognized as his usual way of expressing that he was currently rolling his pupil-less eyes.

“Of _course_ it is! It would be bad regardless of who it was, because, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m supposed to be trying to find a _bride_ ,” Orem said, bitterly, “but the fact that I – that it –” he trailed off, frustrated at himself for not being able to finish the sentence, and ended up seemingly giving up and just shaking his head. “– _Ket!”_

Kammis forced a sympathetic smile, even though she was starting to think it sounded like her brother was just being overdramatic and creating a huge problem where there mostly wasn’t one, but she decided against mentioning that, as it likely would only enrage Orem and further increase the chances of her wedding being ruined.

“Why did you even do it then, Orem? Were you drunk?”

Orem looked down at his hands, his cheeks flushing.

“No! I wasn’t! I… Don’t know what I was thinking…”

“Did you start it?” She asked, suspiciously.

Orem shrugged half-heartedly, still looking down.

“I… I think we both did…”

Kammis raised an eyebrow at that, but decided not to comment. “Where is Ket now?”

“He’s still sleeping…”

“In _your_ bed?!”

“In his bed.”

Kammis let out a relieved sigh.

“What are you going to do about it?”

Orem finally looked up at her again, frowning, as if Kammis should know the answer to that question already.

“I don’t know! That’s why I’m here!”

Kammis rolled her eyes, and then looked at Orem as sternly as she could.

“Look, I know this is a… _stressful_ situation for you, but I’m telling you right now, Orem: If you do anything that puts the spotlight on anything other than the fact that me and Trelle are getting married today, I will _end_ you.”

Orem stared back at her for a few more moments before he let his shoulders fall and looked away again, realizing Kammis wasn’t going to magically going to fix this situation for him.

“I guess I’ll just… Avoid Ket all day…”

It was obvious he wasn’t entirely happily with this conclusion.

The light of dawn was starting to warm up the room – it was a sign that soon her attendants would be here to start helping her prepare for what was supposed to be the best day of her life; it also meant that she should probably be kicking Orem out of her room very soon.

Kammis sighed. She cared for her brother entirely too much.

“Orem,” She started, quietly, wondering if she should even be attempting to ask this question. “Did you… like it?”

Orem glanced at her for only a second, surprised by the question, before quickly looking away again, blushing.

“Well, I… didn’t _dislike_ it… But that’s beyond the point…”

Kammis almost had to fight a smile; That absolutely meant he had liked it a lot.

“Do you like Ket?”

This time Orem looked at her almost offended.

“Do you even need to ask?”

Kammis blinked. She couldn’t believe he didn’t think it was a reasonable assumption. “Yes, I do?”

“Of course I don’t like Ket, that’s ridiculous.” He said, in a definitive tone.

“Well, I saw the two of you dance a few songs last night, and you literally just told me you slept with him, so I really don’t think it’s that strange of an assumption to have, Orem.”

“The dancing thing was a misunderstanding,” Orem said, comfortably, and then stopped talking, probably realizing that he had no way to excuse the sleeping together.

At least he didn’t look on the verge of a panic attack anymore.

“I think you should talk to him,” Kammis said, “But, maybe only after the wedding, because the threat still stands, and I _will_ murder you if you ruin this for me and Trelle.”

Orem nodded half-heartedly, like he had no intention of really talking to Ket about it, but still stood up, mumbling something about being late for preparations. Kammis nodded back, but before he could leave, she stood up as well, taking hold of one of his hands and pulling him close enough to her that she could press her forehead against his gently, in an intimate familiar touch. She closed her eyes for a moment, and could feel Orem had done the same, could hear him breathe and feel him finally relax a little, and when they both opened their eyes, he finally looked a little more composed.

“Thank you,” He whispered, in a small voice, before taking a step away from his sister and looking her up and down, managing a small smile. “I’m looking forward to see you in your wedding dress.”

Kammis smiled back at him and waited until he was gone to shake her head, taking a second to compose herself as well before turning around and diving into the preparations for the ceremony, fully focused on the wedding again.

 

* * *

 

Orem tried to distract himself by immersing himself in the preparations as well; he took a long bath that finally helped him feel clean, and tried on his new robes, made specially for the wedding day. They fit him perfectly, and the fabric was rich, but as intended, weren’t as ostentatious as his outfit from the previous night. Today was Kammis and Trelle’s day, and Orem didn’t want to stand out. He informed the hairstylist of that plan as well, and as the gnome combed through his hair, Orem couldn’t help but be reminded of the sensation of Ket running his fingers through his hair, the night before, until he dozed off, and how good it had felt, in his strange relaxed bliss.

Once he was ready, instead of going to find Randus and Ket, Orem decided that the best way to avoid any awkward encounters would be to busy himself with preparations; the closest he came to having a Ket-related mishap before the ceremony was when an eladrin servant stopped by to inform him that Master H’zard was asking for him, but Orem got out of it by asking him to notify Master H’zard that he was too busy to go talk to his guests at the moment.

In truth, there were already plenty of people working on every single detail of the ceremony, and not much for Orem to help with at all, but the mere thought of having to see Ket was starting to make him nervous, and he wanted to delay their meeting for as long as possible.

Nevertheless, he could only avoid Ket for so long.

Orem finally peeked inside the courtyard after a couple of hours of moderately hard work. The ceremony was starting soon, and he immediately spotted Ket and Randus, already sitting at a bench, towards the back. Randus seemed to be wearing the formal outfit he had brought from home – it was clearly tailor-made to him, and despite lacking the elegance that came with eladrin craftsmanship, it was more than adequate for the ceremony. Ket, on the other hand, was still wearing the eladrin tunic he had worn the day before (Orem promptly assumed the formal outfit he had brought from home hadn’t been deemed appropriate), with only a few changes – a silk belt had been added, and the lapel had been altered slightly, probably to try and hide the fact that he was wearing the same outfit two days in a row.

They’d done a good job at making those clothes look suitable again, Orem couldn’t help but think, remembering how they’d been strewn all over Ket’s floor that morning. He felt his cheeks heat up.

Randus looked distracted, but Ket was discreetly looking around, searching for someone, and it made something inside Orem stir – he couldn’t tell if it was because of how good Ket looked, or because he knew who Ket was searching for.

Then, Ket’s face turned, and he suddenly smiled one of those soft smiles from the night before, and Orem realized that he had been spotted, and that the smile was for _him_. He felt a wave of nausea go through him, and without thinking about it any further, turned around and left, going back into hiding.

The next time he glanced at Ket, he wasn’t looking for anyone anymore, and the smile was gone, replaced by a calculated, blank expression that was more characteristic of Ket, but that didn’t make Orem feel any better.

 

* * *

 

The ceremony was, as Orem had expected, beautiful; Kammis and Trelle looked stunning, and so happy that it was difficult to stay indifferent to their infectious smiles. Even then, Orem was having a hard time focusing on the scene in front of him, and not on the feelings overwhelming him.

At least his sister looked happy – the happiest Orem had ever seen her, as Trelle said her vows. It seemed he was succeeding in not ruining this day for her.

Soon, the wedding proper was over, and it was time to continue the festivities with a meal. The guests started standing up and slowly moving towards the other courtyard, where dinner had been served the night before. Orem stood up as well – some of the guests seemed to be lining up to talk to the newly-weds, probably wanting to congratulate them, and a quick look-around showed no signs of Ket.

Orem slowly started making his way out as well, trying to blend in with the small crowd that was already leaving, absent-mindedly listening to the guests’ comments on the ceremony.

“They did find a way to discipline that green hair of hers, didn’t they?”

“I think they did, yes. It didn’t look quite as garish as it did yesterday.”

Orem rolled his eyes and decided that maybe he didn’t need to hurry into the dining courtyard so much and could probably wait until the worst of the crowd had made its way there.

He immediately regretted this decision. Orem turned around, and his eyes met Ket’s, who was a couple of steps away from him. The half-elf’s blank expression faltered for a second and he started quickly trying to make his way to Orem, dodging a family of eladrin along the way. Orem was frozen in place for a few seconds, until Ket finally reached him, and his instinct seemed to kick in – without thinking, in his slightly panicked state, he closed his eyes, felt magic swiftly flow through him and a familiar wind hitting his face, and when he opened them again, he was across the crowd from Ket, who was staring at him incredulously, along with a couple of other eladrin, who had noticed his sudden disappearance.

He had _feystepped_ to avoid Ket _._ In the middle of a crowd.

Ket shook his head disbelievingly, his expression now something Orem could mostly identify as _hurt._ Orem swallowed loudly and stayed put, as Ket turned around and walked away, without making another attempt to talk to him.

Orem rested his back against the wall of the stone corridor and watched the rest of the eladrin pass, most of them completely ignoring him, some managing a small bow when they noticed who he was. He, however, didn’t have it in him to respond, this time, still stuck on what had just happened between him and Ket. He was aware that it had been unpolite, to feystep away like that. But something inside of him was wishing that Ket had kept following him, was telling him that Ket _should_ have followed, if he wanted to talk to him so badly.

It hurt, just a little, that Ket had given up just like that, and he realized that it was because it felt like Ket had given up on him. 

He shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it. He should be glad Ket wasn’t trying to pursue him. He _was_ glad – he had enough on his plate already.

He kept watching everyone pass by: Trelle’s relatives, all in a group, her mother still seemingly tearing up from the ceremony; Randus, probably not really sure where exactly he was going and mostly just following the crowd; his mother, engaged in conversation with the priest of Corellon who had married the girls; and finally, the brides themselves, too enamored with each other to notice him watching.

Orem sighed and stood up; he should probably get going as well, before anyone noticed his absence.

He started walking when he heard someone call his name from behind him.

“Ah, Orem. There you are.”

Orem turned around and bowed slightly.

“Father.”

Brall Rivendorn walked up to his son and then gestured for Orem to accompany him. They walked in silence, which was what Orem preferred, when he was joined by his father, until Brall spoke up.

“After lunch, there will be dancing again.”

Orem raised an eyebrow. There were two ways this conversation could be going, and he disliked both of them.

“Of course.”

There was a pause. They could hear the sounds of the courtyard growing louder as they approached.

“I want you to stay away from H’zard.”

Orem paled, tried his best not to react.

“That was my intention already.”

They had reached the edge of the courtyard now. Their eyes met, and Brall nodded, which Orem took as his cue to go join the table, but his father spoke again before he could leave.

“You are to dance with the Snowblossoms’ daughter again today.”

Orem clenched his teeth slightly. The conversation had actually gone both of the ways he hadn’t wanted it to go.

“The Snowblossoms’ daughter is – very agreeable, but I thought I made it clear to you and mother that I’m not interested,” He said, continuing to stare directly at his father.

“Orem.” Brall said.

Orem kept looking at him, and then let his gaze fall to Kammis, who was already sitting down at the table, next to Trelle. She still looked as happy as she did during the ceremony.

This was her day, not his.

He sighed.

“Yes, father.”

Brall nodded, and they both made their way to the main table, where Orem sat down and then proceeded to listen to his father’s small toast, complimenting the ceremony and the brides and telling everyone to start eating.

When Orem looked at Ket this time, he wasn’t looking at him, but he wasn’t eating either. He seemed to be staring at nothing in particular, and all the amusement and happiness he’d seen in his eyes the day before was gone.

This, too, hurt more than Orem thought it would.

Like the night before, once the long lunch was over, it was time to dance again – this time, the brides were to have their first dance as a married couple, and much like before, they were so focused on each other that it seemed almost as if they were dancing in the room alone.

This time, Orem was having a harder time appreciating their dance. They still looked incredibly happy, and Orem was glad for them, but as his misfortune seemed to grow, he was starting to become bitter, and he didn’t want Kammis to notice his bad mood.

Once the first dance was over, the guests clapped politely, and moved to go invite their partners for the next dance, now that they could join in as well. Brall looked at Orem pointedly, and Orem forced a smile and stood up, making his way to the Snowblossom’s eldest daughter, who accepted his invitation politely, and they made their way to the center of the room to start dancing along with the other couples that had gathered there.

This, at least, was much like it had been last night, to Orem’s relief. The girl was proficient in the dance, and she kept herself detached from him, only as close to Orem as she had to be – the complete opposite of Ket. However, much to Orem’s chagrin, in the middle of the song, something changed, when she decided to start talking to him.

“Orem,” She started, and his name sounded foreign in her voice – he didn’t think he’d ever heard her say it before. Talking during dancing wasn’t unpolite, as long as the conversation was kept brief and quiet, but this was certainly unexpected. “I don’t mean to intrude, but I can’t help but be slightly confused by your decision of… Being the first to invite me to dance, both days, when last night you followed our dance with a number of dances with that… Half-elven gentleman, whose name I can’t seem to recall…”

Orem smiled politely – there was nothing else he could do, really.

“Ah, our blunder was spotted,” He said, trying to sound casual and only slightly embarrassed. Of _course_ it had been. “Forgive me, I know how it must have looked, but my – friend, doesn’t know much about eladrin culture, and I was so distracted by how exquisite my sister looked, that we… ended up dancing more than we should have.”

The girl nodded curtly, not looking completely reassured by that explanation.

“I see.” She said, simply, and they kept dancing, without exchanging another word.

Orem took this chance to covertly glance at Ket and, this time, was surprised to find him looking back at him. Ket couldn’t tell where Orem’s eyes were – he was pretty good at keeping his face leveled with his dancing partner’s so it always looked like he was staring at them – so Orem let his eyes rest on Ket’s face for a while. He still looked sad, perhaps now even more openly so, and after a few seconds, he grabbed a glass of what seemed to be wine and took a sip from it.

Orem missed a step and forced his eyes away from Ket, focusing on the girl, who didn’t seem very pleased to have been stepped on like that.

When the song finally ended, after what seemed like an eternity, he bowed to the girl and politely walked away, but when he looked around again, Ket wasn’t at his table anymore.

He stood in the middle of the courtyard alone for a second, looking around confusedly, until Kammis seemed to come to rescue him out of nowhere, holding out her hand with a smile and bowing exaggeratedly at him.

“Ah, Master Rivendorn!” She said. “May I have this next dance?”

She sure was in a good mood, Orem thought, and he really didn’t feel like dancing, but he would give her this much. He held her hand and managed to smile back as the next song started, a quicker waltz this time, less romantic than the one Ket and him had danced. They danced in silence for a few beats, getting used to the new rhythm, even though Orem could feel Kammis wanted to talk to him about something.

Some more couples joined, and Kammis lead them to the middle of the courtyard, where they were surrounded by people focused on each other, and had more privacy.

“I think you should go talk to Ket now,” She said, leaning closer to him, “You don’t have much time left, he said he’d stay to help clean up but he’s probably leaving tomorrow…”

Orem almost missed a step. Somehow, in the middle of all of the chaos, he hadn’t consciously given any thought to the fact that Ket and Randus were leaving the next day. He struggled to keep his neutral expression up.

“Well, there’s no point talking to him then, right? It’s better if he just leaves, and then we won’t have to deal with this mess.”

Kammis pulled back again so that they could see each other – she was giving him a firm but concerned look.

“I think you’re making a bad decision.”

“Why do you think that?”

“You haven’t shown interest in anyone else… At least, not that I’ve noticed…”

Orem frowned. He didn’t like the implication that this was him _showing interest_ in Ket, thought he had made it very clear to her earlier that this was not what this was.

However, when he tried to retort, instead, he could only say something else.

“Father told me to stay away from him.”

He said it quietly; the fact that he wasn’t denying it was the closest thing to a confession she’d gotten from him, but it felt more like an acquiescence. He was accepting it, but at the same time resigning himself to the fact that it wasn’t going to happen. It _couldn’t._

“Orem…” Kammis said, sadly.

Orem kept the controlled expression on his face and managed a smile, shaking his head. The song started to end, and he bowed to her, but instead of bowing back, she squeezed his hand between hers and looked at him with that same concerned look.

“Go enjoy your day, Kammis,” Orem said, still quietly, squeezing her hand back.

Kammis sighed and nodded.

“Think about what I said,” She said, before letting go of his hand and going to join Trelle, who was chatting with Stagzi next to the desserts.

Orem looked over the courtyard – most people were talking in small groups now, but more couples were starting to find their way to the middle of the patio as the quartet started playing the next song. For a second, his eyes seemed to meet his father’s, who was also engaged in conversation, still at the main table, sitting next to his mother.

There was still no sign of Ket, anywhere in the courtyard.

Orem sighed and left the courtyard, but not before grabbing a still unopened bottle of fine eladrin wine and taking it with him.

 

* * *

 

Orem made his way to the stone bench where he’d hid the night before, bottle in hand. A small part of him was hoping that Ket had gone to hide there, where he knew Orem could find him if he wanted to, but that part was quickly disappointed when the bench had shown itself to be as empty as Orem had found it the night before.

He sat down and opened the bottle with a quick spell. This spot was secluded enough that guests probably wouldn’t accidentally run into him drinking there, but Ket could still easily find him if he wanted to.

Which he probably _didn’t._

Orem sighed and took a swig from the bottle.

It was a few hours and a couple more swigs until it started getting dark, and Orem decided that nobody was going to come find him, and that he should just go back to his room and stay there until he could pretend none of this mess had ever happened. He got up, left the bottle behind and started making his way to his room, sneaking as best as he could, not wanting the guests to see him in his current state.

He was managing to sneak by the courtyard when he happened to overhear a conversation.

“…you, I wasn’t expecting to see you again and it was. Good.” Ket.

“Of course, Ket, don’t be silly. You’re – part of the family, right?” Trelle. Of course.

A guest came out of the courtyard, and Orem squeezed himself against the wall, remaining hidden. 

“I know I said I was staying until tomorrow with Randus, to help clean things up… But,” Ket again, now sounding more sheepish. “Things have… Not been the best between me and Orem – and I think it’s probably better, for both of us, if I just leave now…”

He heard Trelle let out an _Aww_ , but he was no longer fully listening; he felt a wave of nausea overcome him again and had to fight to remain upright, holding himself against the wall he’d been hiding behind. Ket and Trelle kept talking, but Orem couldn’t make sense of the words anymore, and in his slightly panicked state, his flight or fight instinct kicked in again, and he started walking aimlessly.

When he stopped to see where he was, he found himself standing in front of Ket’s door, and he still wasn’t sure he knew what he was doing when he opened the door and walked in.

The view was completely different from what it had been that morning – the room was immaculate this time, the bed made, and nothing on the floor except for Ket’s old backpack, seemingly already prepared for his trip.

Is _this_ what Ket had spent his afternoon doing? Preparing to leave, alone, earlier than expected?

Without – saying goodbye to him?

Orem walked up to the backpack and picked it up, angrily, placing it on the bed so he’d have an easier time looking through his contents. Ket’s stupid, magic bedroll was still tied on top of the backpack, as it always was when they travelled together. He untied it and threw it on the floor.

He opened the backpack, and an orange, furry creature immediately popped out of it, hissing at him threateningly. Orem yelped in surprise, but soon realized it was only Ket’s ugly, evil monkey, and squinted at him, trying to pry him off of the bag.

“Go away, you stupid – _demon–_ ” He grumbled, “Let me go through his things!”

Zal’Gai’S hissed again, and then seemed to consider the situation too much effort to go through to protect Ket’s things, and simply flew away from Orem, going off to find somewhere else to sleep, who could now go through Ket’s backpack freely.

The first thing he fished out of the bag was the old clothes Ket had arrived wearing. He threw them on the floor unceremoniously: his stupid leather jacket with the gambling symbols, and the shirt, and the tight pants – why did his pants need to be so tight?

Next was Ket’s other old outfit, the one Asmodeus had given him, with the dice pips, which Orem assumed Ket had brought as his formal outfit – typical Ket, to assume his stylish clothes were up to eladrin standards. Orem threw them on the floor as well.

At that point, and as Orem got ready to throw away a worn, old-looking hat he had never seen before, the door opened, and Ket walked in. They both froze for a second; Orem looked up at Ket, and then at the mess he’d already made, and then at up at Ket again. Ket’s eyes widened slightly as he took in the scene in front of him.

“What…” He started, and then paused, took a deep breath, walked in and closed the door behind him before starting again. “What the hell are you doing?”

Orem angrily threw the hat he was holding at Ket, but it didn’t even make it half-way there, flopping on the ground dejectedly.

“What am I doing? What are _you_ doing, _Ket_?”

Ket blinked, unsure of how to reply to that.

“I’m wondering why you’re going through my things and just throwing them on the floor?”

“Oh, are you?” Orem asked, pushing Ket’s backpack away and taking a step towards him. “I’m wondering how you only now had the gall to show up!”

Ket sighed. He looked disappointed, but tired, most of all.

“…You’re drunk.”

Orem ignored the observation and took another step towards Ket. He was overwhelmed by feelings again, but this time, he knew he had gone too far to stop talking now.

“First you leave, and I end up stuck in here, _alone_ – I thought you all had left me behind – for years! And then you show up and tell me that, after all, you didn’t want to leave me behind, so now I can’t be mad at you anymore, and then you go and make me feel – _things_ –” He felt a force pushing behind his eyes and shut them tightly to fight it. “…And now you’re just going to leave again, so what was even the point?”

Ket seemed a little disarmed at that – at Orem, sharing his feelings like that, in such a raw state.

“Orem, I came for the wedding, did you – did you think I would stay forever? You knew I was only staying for three days.”

Orem shook his head, his eyes still closed.

“I heard you – you told Trelle that you were leaving today because of me!”

“My plan was always to leave tomorrow. I just didn’t want to deal with –” Ket gestured at the mess of clothes on his floor, Orem standing in the middle of it. “– this.”

Orem opened his eyes and wiped them quickly – he could feel all of his anger quickly fading away into shame and sadness. He knew he had no reason to be angry at Ket; if anything, Ket should be angry at him.

“Besides,” Ket continued, “I don’t think it’s fair of you to be upset at me for _leaving_ , of all things, considering I woke up alone this morning and spent the day trying to talk to you only to have you _feystep_ away from me.”

Orem looked away embarrassed.

“I – I panicked.”

“Did you also panic all the other times I looked at you?”

Orem didn’t reply – he knew, deep down, that his behavior wasn’t excusable.

Ket sighed. He looked sad, even more than he had looked earlier.

“Look, just… just tell me something. Did I do anything wrong? Because last night…” He paused, closed his eyes and shook his head. “I… you’re drunk, I don’t think we should be having this conversation…”

Orem watched Ket for a few seconds, and when it became apparent Ket wasn’t going to say whatever he had been planning to, the eladrin walked to the bed and sat down on the edge, taking a deep breath and considering the situation he found himself in. He realized he had messed up – badly, and multiple times. But he also realized something else – that he was here for a reason. He _wanted_ this, whatever this was; wanted Ket to smile the way he had the day before, wanted him to smile like that because of him. And he wanted to feel that feeling again, the one he’d felt when he’d found out Ket had tried to get him out of the Feywild, or when Ket had gone to look for him the night before.

And this – this already badly messed up night – was probably the only chance he had at this. At Ket.

He looked sheepishly at the floor.

“If I’m being honest… I don’t think I’m quite that drunk.”

Ket looked at him like he didn’t really believe that.

“I think maybe I was playing it up, so that I could justify to myself doing,” He gestured to Ket’s clothes strewn across the floor. “this. N-Not that it was justifiable.”

Ket raised an eyebrow and looked around.

“What _were_ you trying to do?”

“I’m – not entirely sure?” He bit his lip. He had a feeling he knew what had originated the behavior, and knew he had to try harder to open up, if he really wanted this to work. “I suppose I thought that, maybe, if I unpacked your things, you’d have to stay for longer…”

Ket looked a little surprised at that, not having expected such an honest answer. He scratched the back of his head, sighed and went to sit down next to Orem.

“Last night…” He started, continuing the train of thought he had interrupted earlier. “You seemed happy.”

Orem hummed. _Feelings._

“Yes. I… Felt happy.”

“Then why?...”

Orem knew what he was asking. Why leave before he woke up? Why ignore him throughout the day? Why run away from him?

“It was… A lot. At the time it was good and it all felt,” Orem could barely believe he was saying these words out loud. “ _right_. I think it hit me when you fell asleep.”

He took a deep breath. He felt dizzy, almost, his head heavy with feelings.

“I’ve been alone for a long time, and that’s – fine.” It wasn’t, and it showed in his voice more than Orem had wanted it to. “Last night, it – it really scared me, when you fell asleep. How much I liked it, how _natural_ it felt, and then I could hear your heart beat and it was… Too much, all at once, so I left, and then I started thinking of all the other things,” he took a break to exhale shakily, trying to keep his voice stable. “How I’m supposed to be looking for a bride, how you’re only here for the wedding, how you’re – _you_ , and I’m me, and it suddenly felt like a huge mistake… A mistake I’d made on such an important day to Kammis, and the only way I had to deal with it was to avoid it…”

There was heavy silence between the two of them, and after a moment, Orem risked taking a look at Ket’s face; he didn’t look like he was happy with that response, but like he, at least, understood. After some more silence, Ket finally spoke up.

“Maybe it was a mistake.”

It almost looked like saying it was painful, and Orem didn’t like hearing it either, but he accepted it and nodded, letting his gaze fall to the floor again. His head still felt very heavy, and he had to resist the urge to rest it on Ket’s shoulder – they were sitting very close, like they had last night, while talking in the courtyard, but it felt inappropriate, considering the conclusion they had just reached.

“I – should leave, I think.” Orem said, having to pause to stop his voice from cracking.

Ket nodded.

“But you don’t have to leave tonight. It’s been a long day, you should get some rest before hitting the road…”

Ket yawned and nodded again, standing up and holding out his arm to help Orem up, who took it, squeezing his hand for a second.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do that. Thanks, Orem. For the talk.”

Orem nodded, managing a weak smile and walking out. Ket closed the door behind him.

Once the door was closed, Orem stopped for a moment to compose himself outside of Ket’s door. He could breathe better, out here, but he now seemed to be overcome by a strange inertia that was keeping him from moving away from the door.

He clenched his fists and then released them, trying to release himself from the tension that had had been overwhelming in Ket’s room, and felt that strange force prickling behind his eyes again, but this time he didn’t fight it, letting a couple of tears stream down his cheeks.

He stood there for about a minute, and then wiped his eyes, frustrated that he couldn’t seem to will the tension away. He had gotten closure! He should feel relieved, not weighted down by his decisions, the way he was feeling. He turned around – Ket’s door was still there.

Orem knocked at the door, and Ket opened surprisingly fast, almost as if he had been standing on the other side of the door, waiting for Orem to knock.

“So, it was a mistake.” Orem said, his voice coming out a little strangled; he knew he probably looked terrible too, still crying a little.

Ket nodded, biting his lip and looking uncharacteristically nervous.

“But – you’re leaving tomorrow, so it won’t even matter that it happened.”

“Yeah.”

Orem swallowed loudly.

“So, I was thinking, would it even make that much of a difference if the mistake lasted two nights, instead of just one?”

Ket grabbed him and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them, and their lips immediately crashed together in an urgent, desperate kiss.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (sweats) (again)


End file.
